In a note to staff, KCNC News Director Tim Wieland said, “Michael is currently the Sports Director at WATE-TV, the ABC station in Knoxville, Tenn. — anchoring daily sportscasts, reporting on University of Tennessee football and basketball, and hosting a 30 minute show on University of Tennessee athletics. Prior to that, he worked as a sports anchor and reporter in Amarillo and Midland, Texas. Sports is in Michael’s blood — he’s the son of a coach and has been around sports his entire life. He is a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism…”

Additionally, during the Broncos’ season, Schlereth “will join Michael Spencer as co-host of Xfinity Monday Live, and provide post-game analysis for newscasts as well as All Access on Sunday nights.”

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KCNC-Channel 4 is clearing a half-hour of its schedule for a special, “Inside the Investigation: Harold Henthorn,” Friday at 6:30 p.m. Investigative reporter Brian Maass promises new information and new interviews.

Maass has filed dozens of reports on the case over the last two and a half years. In this half-hour he frames the central question this way: “Was Henthorn a victim of very bad luck or is he a Black Widow husband?”

With footage from the CBS News program “48 Hours,” on which Maass appeared in April to discuss the case, Maass talks the audience through his journalistic efforts, from the anonymous email that tipped him to the suspicious nature of the death of Henthorne’s first wife, 17 years earlier, through his attempts to interview Henthorn in Highlands Ranch. “No comment” reactions, as Henthorn waves off the reporter from inside his car, are juxtaposed with interviews with forever grieving family members.

The Henthorn case has been widely covered locally and nationally. Henthorn, 58, is charged with first-degree murder in the 2012 death of his wife, Toni Henthorn. The new trial date has been set for Sept. 14.

Sure, this half-hour is strategically slated for the May sweeps, and yes, the topic has a certain tabloid appeal, but give credit to the station to devoting this much time to a local news story. Raising questions about the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department’s handling of an inquiry into the first wife’s death, Maass cites numerous “red flags” in the case file. They seemed to “miss or not follow up on a number of clues,” he reports. Law enforcement doesn’t come out looking good.

Aurora police respond to the Century 16 movie theater early Friday morning, July 20, 2012, in the moments after the Aurora theater shooting. Television media have different plans for how to ccover the trial, which starts April 27. (Denver Post file)

On the eve of what could be a four-month media marathon covering the Aurora theater shooting trial, Denver TV stations on April 26 alerted viewers about what to expect and explained journalistic philosophies. Clearly news executives are shaping coverage plans with audience sensibilities in mind.

Channel 9 posted a video online, narrated by anchor Kyle Clark, advising the audience the station will not carry graphic images from the trial, will not go wall-to-wall on days when nothing unexpected happens. The goal, Clark said, is to keep viewers informed, not overwhelmed.

Setting the gentlest tone, Channel 9 warned about “complex and often mundane psychological issues and terms” that will make the trial difficult to follow. Mundane? That’s difficult to believe ahead of this intensely scrutinized case. Sanity evaluations will be at the heart of the trial.

“This is either the unluckiest guy in the world whose two wives have died under freakish, unusual circumstances,” says Brian Maass. “Or, perhaps, it’s something far more sinister. It could be murder.”

Maass recalls the “cryptic” anonymous email he received about the freakish death of Henthorn’s first wife. Lynn, that prompted the reconsideration of Henthorn’s version of what happened to Toni in 2012.

Harold and Toni Henthorn. Courtesy of Remembered.com

Maass, longtime investigative reporter at CBS4, is billed as a consultant to “48 Hours.” With his contributions, correspondent Peter Van Sant and “48 Hours” investigate the deaths of Henthorn’s two wives through interviews with family members, co-workers, friends of the deceased, a former Douglas County coroner and an accident reconstruction specialist.

Longtime Denver media presence Gloria Neal has accepted a job at WGCL in Atlanta, the CBS station, as morning anchor. According to her boss here, it’s an opportunity she “couldn’t pass up.”

CBS4 News Director Tim Wieland said in a message to the staff:
“Back in 2008, I asked Gloria Neal if she might be interested in doing a daily segment for CBS4 Morning News on some of the stories surrounding the Democratic National Convention in Denver. Three or four weeks only. An “experiment” to see how she liked working on morning television. Three or four weeks turned into eight years at CBS4 – a wonderful “experiment” that led to so many memorable interviews, stories and news segments.”

By phone from Atlanta, Glo said, “Man plans and God laughs.” She was “stunned when they called me. I love Colorado, it’s going to be so hard … (leaving) but it’s also a great opportunity. (Atlanta) is a huge market. I’ve been here many times.” Her husband has clients there.

She sounds amazed that the Atlanta CBS folks want her as “a morning show anchor in the way that I want to anchor news, which is not the traditional way.” She calls it “the opportunity of a lifetime.”

Neal credits CBS4 management for trusting her with a break 10 years ago, and has no anger toward the radio business which kicked her around: “I am the better for it,” she said. “I grew a lot in Colorado.”

Her last day on the air in Denver will be mid-late May.

A veteran of Clear Channel radio in Denver (she did afternoons on KOA), and of progressive talk radio KKZN, as well as entertainment shows on the FM side, the multimedia journalist Neal landed well in TV, making appearances on national panels as well as the local CBS station. She has been active in local community organizations for years, among them the Colorado Women’s Chamber of Commerce, The Women’s Foundation, The Association for Women in Communications and The Mile High United Way, as well as national groups including the National Association of Black Journalists.

The sweeps period, when ratings are measured to set future advertising rates, shows that, while the overall number of metro area homes using television (HUT) in the morning hasn’t declined, the station standings have changed.

From 5-7 a.m. weekdays amoung adults 25-54, the KUSA wake-up show holds the lead with a 1.3 rating, down 27 percent from a year ago. But KCNC is a close second with a 0.9 rating, up 69 percent from a year ago. KMGH is a very close third with a 0.7 rating, down 10 percent from last year.

The 6 a.m. race similarly demonstrates alterations: KUSA scored a 1.8 rating, down 26 percent from a year earlier. KCNC scored a 1.2 rating, up 68 percent from a year earlier. Four-tenths of a point away from the leader. KMGH declined to a 0.8 rating, down 19 percent from a year earlier.

At the same time, nationally “CBS This Morning” posted the largest viewership in the time slot in more than 10 years, gaining 290,000 viewers to become “the only network morning broadcast to maintain its adults 25-54 rating compared to a year ago,” per CBS.

“We have a symbiotic relationship with “CBS This Morning,” said CBS4 News Director Tim Wieland. Locally, “the team is clicking.” The goal is to stick with harder news and information while competitors trade in lighter, more personality-driven fare in the morning.

The late-news contest points to similar movement. So far, KUSA is on track to win with a 3.8 rating at 10 p.m. (adults 25-54), down 25 percent from a year ago. KCNC is in position to finish second with a 2.2, up 5 percent from a year ago. KMGH will be third with a 1.4 rating, down 18 percent from a year ago. And KDVR will post a 0.9 rating, up 13 percent from a year earlier.

KUSA says they would expect to be down from last February’s numbers due to 2014’s Olympics broadcasts which ran for 14 days of the sweeps. Also, despite the Brian Williams debacle, “NBC Nightly News” still did a hefty number (3.83 rating), more than double the network competition and even higher than 9News at 10 p.m. (3.78 rating).

Denver TV stations are in the midst of the November sweeps, when local ratings are measured to set future advertising rates. The ratings period runs Oct. 30-Nov. 26. A quick snapshot of the standings as of Nov. 19, among 25-54-year-olds, weekdays in two key time periods:

At 6 a.m., 9News leads the pack with a 1.6 rating, 15.8 share or percent of the viewing audience. 7News is second with a 0.9 rating, 8.7 share. CBS4 follows with a 0.7 rating, 7 share, tied with KWGN’s “Daybreak” (0.7 rating, 6.5 share). KDVR’s “Good Day Colorado” is at the bottom with a 0.6 rating, 6.2 share.

At 10 p.m., 9News is on top with a 3.6 rating, 11.9 share. CBS4 and 7News are tied for second with a 1.7 rating, 5.5 share. Fox31 9-10 p.m. has a 1.7 rating, 2 share. Additionally, at 9 p.m., KTVD-Channel 20 turns in a 1.0 rating, 2.5 share.

Compare those figures with 2008, when the People Meter technology was first in place, and you see a surprisingly similar amount of time spent using plain old television (oldsters have entrenched habits) but, as you’d expect, a huge jump in time spent time-shifting (via DVR) and watching via the internet. The market has gained 150,000+ in population since 2008; the value of a rating point now is 29,808 people versus 28,285 then.

It’s the younger folks who have deserted conventional TV. The latest Nielsen report confirms there was a 21.7 percent decline in viewership over the past three years by 18-24-year-olds.

An undercover CBS4 producer was able to procure illegal 30-round magazines, in spite of Colorado’s ban on high-capacity gun magazines, no problem. The law is 18 months old, but gun retailers have found ways around it.

Copyright 2014 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved.A wide shot of 2/3 of the new 7NEWS set in Studio A. (James Dougherty, 7NEWS)

There’s a new unease in the mornings on Denver TV news. A scrambled anchor team, a crazy new set and enough fluff to send you screaming to cable for actual news.

The big, empty 7News set, a display of video technology on multiple screens, looks big and empty. When I walked around it in person, I hoped it would play better on camera. It doesn’t, and the anchors appear awkward moving from one spot to another. Does standing without an anchor chair add anything? It’s a distraction. This is KMGH’s first big set redesign in 15 years so maybe we’ll get used to it. In terms of tone, Channel 7 is the speed racer — at night as well as in the morning — sacrificing depth to volume. Anne Trujillo keeps things solid while eager newcomer Eric Kahnert pushes to break through. Weather, traffic, weather, traffic. If you don’t have a smart phone or a radio, you might need that.

The still congealing staff on 9News, formerly the unbeatable team fronted by Kyle Dyer, is trying to regain their mojo. Work-horse Gary Shapiro attempts to hold things together with trooper Cheryl Preheim, while former cheerleader and dancer Corey Rose and well-traveled TV vet Marty Coniglio take turns…When you build a newsroom around big personalities rather than, say, content, it hurts when a popular anchor leaves. (Speaking of which, Becky Ditchfield returned Friday after maternity leave.)

Elsewhere, Fox31 does well with what it does: down and dirty crime stories, lots of hustle, a youthful presentation and not too much thinking.

CBS4 is fast on the street, less concerned with packing a dozen stories into every five minutes, accustomed to delivering a more traditional newscast and sticking with basic principles (ie. it’s not all about the personalities).

The ratings for September 2014 show 9News still on top but by decreasing margins compared to years past, particularly among younger viewers, while 7News has made significant gains.Read more…

Molly Hughes, the new director of Denver Post TV, appears on the set of DPTV on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2014. (Cyrus McCrimmon, The Denver Post)

Molly Hughes, former CBS4 anchor, has been named director of the soon to be expanded Denver Post TV. The appointment is being made at a time when “video has become a major platform for us, both in reader engagement and revenue,” Denver Post Editor Greg Moore announced Monday.

The goal for The Post, Moore said, is to “double our video production.” The plan is to relaunch DPTV into a major vehicle for content delivery from all departments.

Joanne Ostrow has been watching TV since before "reality" required quotation marks. "Hill Street Blues" was life-changing. If Dickens, Twain or Agatha Christie were alive today, they'd be writing for television. And proud of it.